Sibanye ‘will have to’ shutter US mine unless palladium recovers
Sibanye Stillwater will be forced to halt operations at its Montana palladium mine if prices don’t recover soon, according to CEO Neal Froneman.
“The future of Stillwater remains in the balance,” the CEO said on Tuesday, when asked at a London conference about the outlook for the mine. “I mean it’s as simple as that. If there’s no correction in the price soon, as strategic as it is, we will have to put it on care and maintenance.”
Sibanye took a $2.1-billion writedown on its unprofitable US assets earlier this year, citing a combination of plunging prices, rising costs and constraints on implementing an expansion project. The company, which acquired the Montana operations when it bought Stillwater Mining for $2.2-billion in 2017, also axed some jobs at the mine last year as part of its cost-cutting efforts.
Froneman said in March that the Montana operation remains a “strategic asset” and that it was “not due for closure at this stage.” He said at the time that the company had no option but to ensure that the mine becomes profitable, even with depressed palladium prices.
Palladium, which is almost entirely used in catalytic converters that curb auto emissions, has come under increasing pressure as future demand is called into question by the shift to electric vehicles. Palladium has slumped about 70% from a peak in March 2022.
The metal has also been substituted out of catalytic converters in favor of platinum, which until recently was trading at a lower price. Palladium is mostly used in gasoline vehicles, while sister metal platinum — more focused around diesel demand — also has uses in hydrogen fuel cells.
Sibanye’s US operations primarily produce palladium, while its South African mines are typically richer in platinum.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Immersive Technologies is the world's largest, proven and tested supplier of simulator training solutions to the global resources industry.
VISIT SHOWROOM
For over 30 years, Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD has been designing, manufacturing, supplying and maintaining specialist...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
